Limited global awareness of invasive alien species and little support for their management
Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the main drivers of global change and can cause a wide range of negative ecological and social impacts. Addressing these impacts requires management actions, which can fail to be effective when not supported by the public. Here, we conducted the first global survey on people’s awareness and perceptions of IAS and support for their management. Our results revealed low public awareness and understanding of biological invasions, and suggest that these are mainly influenced by peoples’ sociodemographic status rather than the social-ecological context. Greater awareness of IAS was associated with more negative perceptions towards them and greater support for their management. A large majority of people did not support the use of most management measures. These results suggest that limited public awareness may represent a major obstacle to successfully managing IAS globally, highlighting the need for broader public communication, outreach and engagement.
Authors
- Marina Golivets (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1278-2663)
- Pavel Pipek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1116-1013)
- Makihiko Ikegami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7760-7973)
- Petr Pyšek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8500-442X)
- Cristina Preda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3513-7344)
- Margherita Gioria (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0574-4688)
- Jan Pergl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0045-1974)
- Ivan Jarić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2185-297X)
- Jonatan Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3757-5276)
- Ratcha Chaichana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0244-9736)
- Kateřina Štajerová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7824-1793)
- Nitya Prakash Mohanty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7768-6483)
- Zarah Pattison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5243-0876)
- Aníbal Pauchard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1284-3163)
- Ayşe Yazlık (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7059-0761)
- Ana Novoa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7092-3917)
- Sven Bacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5147-7165)
- Klára Pyšková (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4558-798X)
- Ali El-Keblawy
- Bella Galil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5854-4228)
- Tina D'Hertefeldt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3379-6693)
- Ross Shackleton
- Rafael D. Zenni
- Thi Hai van Nguyen
- Christian A. Kull
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2026-10-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117811
- Primary Topic
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Grantová Agentura České Republiky
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences